Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1885 — SMALL-POX. [ARTICLE]

SMALL-POX.

Ravages of the Pestilence in Canada and Elsewhere A Contagious Steamer at Detroit. [Montreal special ] Miss Flora Campbell and Miss Bnsh. who have been patients in the small-pox hospital, make some very damaging charges against the sys em of treating small-pox patients in the hospital. They state that they had been put in beds which bad been occupied by other patients, and that the sheets hid not been changed; that some of the poor creatures in the ward in which they were had the disease very bad, and that the smell was dreadful; that attendants bade them good-night when they were most needed; that the first night Miss Bush was in the hospital she was given a bed without bed-clothes, and she was forced to lie there a:l night as she came into the building; that a little girl brought some food to them, carrying the bread in her bare hands, on which marks of smallpox were still fresh; that patients changed their own clothes as long as they were able, and, when they were not, those patients who could go about did it for them; that they were often ill during tho night and wanted attendance when there were no nurses about; that during the night some patients would keep knocking against the wall or floor, but no one went near them to see what was wanted, and no assistance was given to those who were unable to get up; that patients had sometimes to wait for hours for a drink, and that those whose eyes were closed with the disease* sometimes begged for a long time for a lotion that was used to wash them before they would get it; that the dirt, and filth, and vile smells were terrible; that as soon as the breath was out of a patient’s body men came and sewed it up in a sheet, and instead of lifting it on a stretcher, let it fall to the floor with a thud that startled every one in the ward. These charges are being investigated. The officials of the hospital deny the truth of thorn, and Dr. Nolin has been requested to prepare an official statement for tho medical health officer. The modical health officer reports that there were forty-nine well-authenticated new cases of small-pox yesterday. The civic Board of Health now believe themselves to be on the track of nearly every case of small-pox. There is a great rush for vaccinnation in the East End, owing to the manufacturers requiring their employes to be vacciunated.

A Contagious Craft. * I Detroit telegram.] The officers of the propeller Cuba called at the Custom House this forenoon for the necessary papers to allow the boat to receive coal here. When they said the propeller was from Montreal, Health Officer Wight was at once notified. He found the boat at the foot of Third street, while heavers were loading coal. The boat was loaded with iron for a Canadian port on Lake St. Clair. The crew of a dozen persons was at once arrested aud the boat quarantined. The captain and purser under oath said that a sailor sick with small-pox had been put ashore in Chicago Sept. 18, and another at St. Catharine’s a short time before, on the way to Chicago. The Cuba has since been to Montreal, and left that infected city Oct. 2. The coal-heavers were all examined and found to bear vaccination marks. The crew were vaccinated, and this afternoon ten pounds of sulphur were burned on the vessel. All communication with the boat is denied. As soon as possible the boat will be hustled off on its journey. Scared Travelers. [New Y'ork dispatch. J A sick negro arrived at Albany from Montreal, and a physician said he was suffering from the preliminary symptoms of small-pox. A purse was made up and he was put on board a train for New York this morning. After the train pulled out he announced the nature of his ailment and inside of a minute had the car all to himself. The car was detached from the train and side-tracked, but under orders was hitched to a later train, and with its solitary passenger hauled to this city, where tho health officers declared that he was not suffering from tho disease. He was, however, isolated. The arrival of his car at the Grand Central Depot caused a sensation. Precautions at liuflUlo. [Buffalo special. I In order to prevent ihe importation of small-pox from Canada to this city a quarantine has been established. The Sanitary Inspectors of the city, all of whom are physicians, will be stationed at Clifton, Ont., one Inspector being on duty each day in the week. The Customs Department has also been requested to hold any vessel coming from a port in Canada at which small-pox is raging. In Quebec Villages. [Quebec telegram.] Seven cases of small-pox, with one 4eath, are reported from Esconmins, an almost isolated village on the north shore of the St. Lawrence Biver, about one hundred and sixty miles below here. Three cases are reported at Lorette, and one in St. Sauvre. An Important Move. [Albany dispatch.] Dr. Carroll, of the State Board of Health, to-day telegraphed the local Health Commissioners at Niagara Falls and Suspension Bridge not to allow any one to cross into this State without showing indications of recent vaccination. Two Cases at Newport. [Newport (R. I.) special.] Two cases of small-pox were discovered here to-day. Stringent measures are being taken to prevent the disease from spreading.